Before the Civil War, Jere Lynch and Betty Summers, children of feuding Kentucky families, secretly pursue a romance. When Jere is knocked unconscious trying to stop the runaway horses of Betty's father Horace, Horace discovers Betty's picture in Jere's locket and warns that he will kill Jere if he speaks with Betty again. After Betty's brother Ben kills Jere's father and Jere kills Ben in a duel, Jere leaves for the West and vows to send for Betty. Jere's sister, however, writes Jere that Betty married another, and tells Betty that Jere is dead. Jere then marries Ray Saunders, an emigrant he rescued from a buffalo stampede, and Betty marries her cousin, Cal Brown. After Jere and Ray die during an Indian massacre, their baby John Smith, grows up and marries Betty's daughter, Betty Brown, who comes West to stake a claim. The birth of their son, Summers Lynch, ends the family feud.